Dark Illusions
by kaibasgirlx
Summary: AU-ish. In which the oracle drive shows a dead future if the evil savior isn't destroyed.


**Gifted to: Becca (oh-kreiss on tumblr).**

**oh-kreiss asked: alright a noerai fic, romantic or not you can decide, on the two of them being horrible angry emotional messes in LR over Serah's death :D**

**Hope this is what you wanted!**

* * *

"_You can't save everyone, Light. Remember that."_

The words echoed through the Savior's mind, as she faced the young man, more like a boy, really, who seemed intent on destroying her. Waves of chaos rolled off him in ephemeral wisps, swirling with the insanity of someone who was too far gone to save. His swords positioned in the offensive, he gave a merciless smile that was much too cold for the boy she entrusted with her sister's life, and the fate of the world.

"It's nothing personal, Lightning. I wish it didn't have to come to this."

"You're holding onto a false hope of redemption," she replied evenly. "Killing me won't save the world; it'll only destroy it further."

The Shadow Hunter met her gaze, dead blue eyes devoid of the passion that once burned inside them. The same eyes that compelled strangers to place their trust in him, and believe in the mission she had tasked him with. In a way, it had been her fault that this happened. She had seen the outcome, had seen that ultimately they would not succeed in trying to prevent the world's demise, and had pushed forward anyway, sending her sister and the last of humanity on a mission they were doomed to fail.

"You're not to blame for what happened, Noel," she continued softly. "The end of the world is my fault. I'm the one who failed to protect Serah, you did the best you could."

She saw him wince at the name of her little sister. Perhaps there still was some emotion left inside him. The grief and guilt that had overwhelmed and driven him to the edges of despair, the self-loathing at having brought about the death of a close friend and the rest of the world with it…five hundred years was too long a time to spend secluded in darkness, and still make it out in one piece.

"It doesn't matter who's to blame," he spat out at last, his eyebrows furrowed in determination. "This is the reality we have to face. I'm going to kill you, even if I die trying!"

Throwing his weight forward, he went in for the attack. Lightning barely had time to react as his sword crashed against her own. Anger, hopelessness, the harsh cruelty of a life wrought from pain reached across the expanse of metal and dug into her heart. The tormented years spent at the edges of despair, before plunging down into its dark depths, spun the tale of the young man's sorrowful life. And it hurt her. Because it was all her fault this was happening.

"You don't know what you're doing!" She cried, as she blocked his attack and parried with her own.

"Maybe not, but one thing I do know, destroying you is the only chance the world has at a better future!"

"It's a lie! Can't you see? Those prophecies are meaningless! You've spent so long trying to convince yourself they were real, that you let go of all reason!"

Her words gave him pause, a slight hesitation, before he pushed aside his doubts and drove forward with his weapon stretched in front of him. This was what he had to do. He had killed plenty before, soaked his hands and painted his walls with his victims' blood. It changed nothing.

"One more death won't make a difference!" He cried, tearing across her chest, only to miss as she arched her back at the last minute. "Nothing makes a difference now!"

There was a _clang_ as his sword was blocked by her shield. He barely avoided the strike aimed for his face, the sharp edge of her blade slicing across his left cheek. He jumped backwards, bringing up a hand to stem the flow of blood dripping down his face, as he glared in rage that she had managed to land a strike while he had barely nicked her armor.

"I can save you, if you let me," Lightning approached him slowly, her arm outstretched, warily watching for the slightest hint that he would spring into an attack. "Your soul isn't beyond redemption. I can bring you to the new world, where you can live your life in peace."

Noel lifted his face to meet hers, a bitter, sardonic grin stretched across his lips. "You're wrong, Lightning. There's no future out there for me." He removed his hand from his face, looking at the crimson liquid staining his fingers before leveling his swords. With a cry he lunged at her, anger and rage fueling his actions as he delivered one strike after another. "I believed you once before, and it only ended in misery!"

"You did everything you could!"

"I was played for a fool!"

"She knew what was going to happen! Serah chose to save the future with you, even if it cost her her life!"

"In the end, it didn't change a thing! Caius still won, Serah still died, and no matter what I did for the last five hundred years, it didn't make a difference!" _Crash_ went his sword against her own, as he pushed her back several paces. "I thought I could change the future! I thought I could make things right! I was so naïve back then for thinking I could make any kind of _difference_!"

His last strike sent her flying against the wall, the impact knocking the wind out of her lungs. Since when had he become so strong, so unpredictable? She glanced up in time to see the sword ready to impale her, and rolled away at the last minute. Instead the blade dug into the wall behind her, but it only bought her a few seconds of precious time as Noel pulled it free and came at her once more.

With each cross of their blades she could see another expression of his pain. The fear and panic when the crest of Valhalla appeared in her sister's eyes, his anguished cry as he held her lifeless body in his arms, the intense self-hatred at having been an unwitting pawn in his enemy's hands, and the shattered pieces of his heart wrapped up in dark clusters of chaos, too thick for her to reach through even with her divine blade.

"You don't know what you're doing!" Lightning deflected his blow, going in with an offensive strike. "I'm the only chance this world has left! Stop dreaming, and open your eyes!"

"You think you can come here after five hundred years, and try to make things better?!" Noel raged, as he jumped out of her range of attack. "Where were you when the world was being destroyed, and the chaos took over?! Where were you when Hope and Snow and I were trying our hardest to fight it back, even if it did us no good?! Where were you when Serah…when Serah…" he gritted his teeth, looking down for a moment, before glancing back up. "Where were you when your sister _died_?!"

"I was keeping her memory alive, like she asked me to!" Lightning retorted, as she blocked his next move. "Do you think you're the only one who feels guilty for what happened? Or did you just assume that I became savior for fun and games?"

Noel gritted his teeth, his grip on his swords tightening. "It doesn't matter what you're doing now, the oracle drive showed what's going to happen if I let you live. I'm not going to sit by and watch the world be destroyed a second time. Once was already more than enough."

"If you continue with what you're trying to do now, than that's exactly what'll happen," Lightning narrowed her eyes, as the Shadow Hunter gave her a dark smile.

"I guess we'll have to find that out, won't we?"

There was barely a second's pause as he flung himself forward, one lethal strike after another, each laden with the intent to kill her. Lightning found herself being driven backwards, steadily backed into a corner. She clenched her jaw. Talking reason with him hadn't done a darn thing. If she couldn't reach him with her words, than the only other option would be her sword.

Blocking his next attack with her shield, she sliced across the air in front of her, leaving a five-inch gash across his chest. Noel fell back, gasping in surprise, but not losing his presence of mind as he blocked the next strike aimed for his head.

"Finally decided to take me seriously?" He spat, as he straightened up.

"You don't want to fight me, Noel," she responded coolly. "Until now I've been going easy on you, because I thought you'd listen to logic. But I'm not going to mince words for much longer. If you're determined to get in my way, then I'll just deal with you the way I've dealt with every other obstacle in my path until now."

"Heh. Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm gonna be the last person you ever see!"

He came at her again, but nothing happened as she blocked his attack once more, hardly batting an eyelash.

"Is that all you've got, Shadow Hunter?"

Noel clenched his teeth, as he freed his swords from hers. Before he could plan another move, Lightning delivered a strike, and another, forcing him on the defensive, as he barely managed to block against her strength.

"So this is the Savior's power, huh?" He remarked, as he jumped and rolled out of the way of her next attack.

Lightning turned to face him slowly. "Yeah, not exactly human, is it? Noel, if you stop this now, I can still save you. It doesn't have to end like this."

There was a pause, as he hung his head, before finally shaking it. "No, you're wrong. It does have to end this way." He looked up at her at last with a sad smile. "It's too late for me."

"Too late? What are you talking about?"

He didn't answer, as he threw one of his swords at her as a decoy, before rushing in right as she deflected it. Catching her unprepared, the force of his blow threw her backwards, as he jumped into the air, swinging his arm back and hurling the blade with all his might. Lightning ducked, avoiding the weapon, as she ran forward, ramming her sword through his chest as he fell towards the ground.

For a moment, there was nothing but stunned silence. Noel hung like a string-less puppet on her blade, his legs waving back and forth in the air. Slowly she lowered him towards the ground, still shocked, as she knelt down beside him. For a moment all she could do was listen to his labored breathing, before she finally spoke.

"Why...didn't you dodge?"

"I wanted…to atone for what happened."

"And you thought the only way you could do that, is by being killed?"

Noel sighed, glancing up at the sky above him. "I spent five hundred years living with the sin of destroying the world…even when I tried to escape it, I couldn't. It was all around me. The people who didn't age, the lives that couldn't be born. Everywhere I went, wherever I looked, all I could see was my own hands cutting off the world's life force. I tried to do everything I could to make up for it…but nothing I did was enough. The chaos took over everything, there just wasn't enough time."

"So, when you saw that prophecy…"

"I thought, maybe I finally had the chance to make things right again. If I stopped you from destroying the world, if I killed you, then I could finally put an end to my guilt. It's like you said, I spent 500 years trying to convince myself this was the right thing to do, but…in the end I couldn't. I wouldn't be able to face her if I had."

"You mean…Serah?"

Noel nodded slowly, letting out a soft chuckle. "She would never forgive me for hurting you. And after letting her die, I wouldn't be able to live with the guilt of taking her sister's life too."

Lightning gritted her teeth. "Then why…why didn't you let me save you?"

"Because," Noel lifted his hands, grasping the handle of her blade, and pulling the sword free from his chest. He held it out to her, as Lightning took it, still staring at him in bewilderment. "I don't deserve to live, after letting all those souls die."

There was silence, as Lightning clenched her fists, knowing it was too late to say anything now. This was his wish, to die and atone as punishment, even if it was undeserved. The least she could do was stay with him, until his soul was finally freed from his body.

"Hey, Lightning,"

She turned to look at him, pink strands of hair blowing gently in the wind, blue eyes filled with grief and remorse. Noel smiled for a moment, as his blurring vision morphed her face into that of Serah's.

"Thank you."


End file.
